Children’s Courses (3-12)

Killarney School of English is one of the few English schools in Ireland that can cater for small children.

Our school in Muckross has a specially designed area at the back of the main building just for small children (3-12s), which we call the ‘Kids Zone’.

Kids Zone consists of 5 classrooms, a performance area, picnic tables and large play area. Its close proximity to the main building, where the adults have classes, means that you can keep an eye on your children, while enjoying your own classes in peace.

Our teachers are all fully-trained in teaching English to young learners and the course methodology reflects all the current thought in language teaching . Class sizes are small (no more than 12 students per class) which
means that each child can receive a lot of teacher attention. In addition, we have a children’s coordinator who is responsible for looking after all teacher and student needs and for organising all afternoon activities. This should make parents secure in the knowledge that their little ones are safe and getting the most out of their classes.

Testing

As with the parents, children are asked to complete a short written test before their arrival at the school. This enables us to put them in the appropriate level. During the first morning those students from 8-12 are assessed again through spoken interaction and a short written test. If the teacher feels that the child is in the wrong level, a decision can be made in conjunction with the children’s coordinator, director of the school and parents to move them up or down a level.

Curriculum

The children’s English language curriculum is designed to make the act of language learning both fun and stimulating for young learners. It combines the most up-to-date communicative language teaching methodology with role play, songs and games to ensure that children leave with a positive feeling about their learning experience in Killarney.

The Performance

Every Friday between 11:20-12:00 a performance is held in ‘the Kidz Zone’ for the benefit of the parents. This is an opportunity for children to show what they have learnt during the week both in the morning classes and in the afternoon activities. This should give children great motivation during the afternoons as they know they will be performing at the end of the week. Here is a basic idea of what is covered during the performance.

11:20-11:40 songs sung by each class rehearsed in the mornings.

11:40-11:45 Short Irish dance or short traditional music piece rehearsed during Irish dancing or traditional music lesson in the afternoons.

11:45-11:55 short play rehearsed in the drama lesson but using art props designed in the art class.

11:55-12:00 certificate ceremony for those leaving that week

Levels:

Killarney School of English offers five levels:

Introductory 1

This level is mainly for the 3-5 year age range who have little or no English and can only cope with very basic vocabulary.

Introductory 2

This level is mainly for the 6-7 age range who again have little or no English but have the ability to learn more advanced sets of vocabulary and very basic grammatical structures.

For the 8-12s there are three possible levels depending on the children’s scores in the test and their performance in class on the first day.

Beginner

This level is for those children who have little or no English but are old enough to make rapid progress.

Elementary

This level is for those children who already have a fair vocabulary base for everyday topics and a grasp of certain grammatical structures such as the present simple tense.

Pre-intermediate

This level is for those children who have a very good vocabulary base for everyday topics and some knowledge of different tenses such as the present, past and future tenses.